The growing blurred line between political campaigns and unauthorised celebrity endorsement has given birth to a new digital ethics debate in India. Bollywood veteran Manoj Bajpayee was recently forced to publicly deny any affiliation with a political party after a “fake, patched-up edit” of his advertising clip (originally for Prime Video) was circulated on social media by an account linked to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections.
Bajpayee’s strong denial is one of the latest incidents shedding light on the rising issue of clip theft and the unauthorised use of celebrity likeness for political messaging. Incidents like these have increased significantly in number over the past few months.
This is what the actor wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
“I would like to publicly state that I have no association or allegiance with any political party. The video being circulated is a fake, patched-up edit of an ad I did for Prime Video.”
The incident mirrors a similar controversy involving actor Kay Kay Menon in August. Menon had to distance himself from a Congress party video that edited and used a promotional clip from his series Special Ops without his consent for a ‘vote chori’ campaign.
This highly unethical practice involves lifting short, engaging video clips or images of public figures, often from advertisements or promotional material, and editing them into political narratives to create a seemingly authentic endorsement. This not only misleads the public but also damages the professional integrity of the artists involved.
Such unethical utilisation of digital or OTT content underscores the critical need for robust protection of personality and publicity rights in the digital age. These rights allow individuals to protect, control, and profit from their image, name, or likeness, preventing others from exploiting their celebrity status.
Recently, the Delhi High Court protected the personality and publicity rights of actor Hrithik Roshan, ordering the immediate removal of objectionable posts, images, and AI-generated inappropriate content that illegally used his likeness on social media. The court has previously granted similar protection to other prominent figures, including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, and Telugu actor Akkineni Nagarjuna.
As political battles increasingly move onto digital and social media battlegrounds, the case of Manoj Bajpayee serves as a wake-up call. They demonstrate that, without strict enforcement of publicity rights, public figures risk having their identities co-opted and their credibility compromised by digitally manipulated, unauthorised content. Stay tuned for more updates.